ANTI-MINISTERIAL DUTCH MEETING.

A mEETING comprising nearly the whole of the commercial Conser- vatives of the City, was held on Tuesday, at the City of London Tavern, to consider of the propriety of addressing the King on the conduct of Ministers in joining with France in an attempt to coerce the King of Holland. The meeting was held on the requisition of ninety gentlemen and firms; among whom we perceive, with some surprise, the name of James Evan Baillie, the soi-disant Liberal member for Bristol. About fifty of the signatures are those of wealthy and influ- ential men ; the rest belong to respectable enough people it maybe, but with no better title to stand forward as the representatives of the mer- chants of London, than they have to stand forth as the representatives of the people of England. The room was crowded. The Tories are excellent managers in these matters.. Mr. Thomas Wilson, a con- venient sort of personage, who once represented the City, and who is always ready on such occasions, was put into the chair, as the puppet of the real movers of the meeting—the Barings, Attwoods, Clitheroe Irving, Mr. Keith Douglas, Alderman Copeland, Mr. Malillop, the Crawshays, Thorntons, and Raikes, and a few others, all of them, we believe, steady and zealous members of the Pitt Club.

The Chairman thus opened the business—

The advertisement published in the newspapers, though it sufficiently ex- plained the object of the meeting, did not explain how he happened to be called upon to fill the chair. This omission he would supply. Having accidentally had to move a resolution in the very house in which they were now assembled in favour of one of the candidates for the representation of the City, he alluded to the depression of trade, and accidentally and unpremeditatedly made use of the following words—" Who can say what sugaings trade may not be exposed to by the present proceedings with respect to Holland ?' The words had scarcely escaped his lips before they elicited a burst of enthusiastic applause and sympathy, which he could not easily forget. It was that expression which bad led to the calling of the !present meeting, and to his being asked to take the chair.

He stated the course which it was desired the meeting should adopt-

" I trust that there will be no disputation with respect to the object which we have in view ; no person here is called upon to sanction what he does list approve of. Resolutions will be submitted, which, if agreeable to a portion of the company here assembled, will be signed by them. If there be any per- sons here who think that an address to the King, such as that which it is in- tended to propose, be not necessary, they of course will not agree to it ; but I rather flatter myself that the moderation displayed in the resolutions and address trill render them acceptable to all."

The description of persons who were called on to sign the memorial, Hr. Wilson described as included in one or other of these classes— First, by all who feel that their present property and future prospects are placed in jeopardy by the armament against Holland and the detention ; secondly, by those who are of opinion that no act of commercial injustice or national argression has been committed by Holland, which calls for a hostile demonstra- tion against her ; and, thirdly:, by those who, calculaitng on more general prin- ciples, feel that we have nothing. to gain and every thing to lose by the reduction of the power of Holland and the aggrandizement of Belgium ; whilst, on the other hand, France has nothing to lose and every thing to gain—if not imme- diately, at least prospectively--from the result of the combined operations about to be carried on.

Mr. Wilson stated that those sentiments were not his own : they were the sentiments of the Morning Chronicle, to whose honesty and consistency he paid a high compliment.

He referred to that journal that morning for a passage which had made a deep impression on his mind when he first read it. As the passage in question embodied the ideas which he had attempted to express, and consisted of only a few lines, he

Would take the liberty of reading it. It was in a letter of " 0. P. Q." con- tained in the Morning Chronicle of the 28th of September, and was as fol- -" How then will this question terminate ? I cannot tell you how it may terminate for the moment, but I can predict how it will eventually close ; for

sooner or later it must come to this—Belgium most one day be united to France."

. The first resolution was moved by Mr. Thomas Baring in a long speech. He said— Whenever any questions were put to Ministers in Parliament during the last

two years respecting their future intentions with regard to Holland, they con- stantly, and perhaps wisely, replied by saying that any explanation Tenni that subject would interfere with pending negotiations; but where were the negotia- tions now? We had arrived at the very end which we had all along dreaded, —namely, hostilities. He believed that no direct motion had been made in Parliament on the question of Belgium and Holland, because the country felt confidence in Ministers, who had entered office professing to maintain the prin- ciple of non-intervention. It now, however, appeared that at the very time, or at nearly the very time, when Ministers framed the Order in Council for the em- bargo on Dutch ships, and to prevent the sailing of British vessels, they proro- gued Parliament to December, with the knowledge that it would not meet until the end of January. Every merchant in the City asked, " What has Holland done? Has she violated treaties? Has she attacked English property ? Has she put an embargo on English ships? lists she disho- mimed our national flag ?" The answer was, "No—Holland has done none of these things." But he would remind those whom be addressed of what Hol- land had really done. The Government of I lolland bad, since the revolution of Belgium, diminished the duties on staple articles of the export trade of Great Britain—namely, cotton, iron, and coals; the Dutch Government had esta- blished a beneficial trade between the two countries, and by what reciprocity was it met ? By an embargo !

He remarked that, in as far as Holland itself was concerned, the opening of the Scheldt was no more than adding a port to the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and others through which Dutch merchandise was already conveyed. Whatever goods went through the Scheldt, would of course cease to go by other channels—

If it be said that the opening of the Scheldt will improve the trade of Belgium, lie would ask, what was that nation to take from us? Belgium was a great ma- nufacturing country. She had her own coal, and iron, and cotton and woollen manufactures. There had been many unpopular governments in Belgium ; but King Leopold's would surpass them all in unpopularity, if he did not protect the commercial and manufacturing interests of his subjects against British com- petii ion. It was perhaps a Belgian question, but were we bound to fight for ? Were we bound to fight for Belgium mere than for Holland? It was said that we must make Belgium a kingdom; but had it ever been a king- it any ancient rights to maintain? Granting, however, that we were bound to go to war on account of Belgium, ought we not to do so rather in order to melee her strong against France, than against Holland? At the very moment that we are requiring Antwerp to yield to French arms, we were destroying the fortresses on the French frontier, and thus making her weak against her mighty neighbour, whilst we were making her strong against her feeble one ; amt this was for British interests. But then, we were told again that we must make war in order to prevent war. He confessed that lie was not Irishman enough to understand that reasoning. If it were not for the awfully dangerous situation in which the country was placed, he would say that this was one of the greatest practical bulls which he had ever heard of. We were now to make war in order to prevent war; that was to say, we were to do now what for three years we had been trying to avoid. It was said that the war would be a short one ; but the question with Eoglishmen should be, " is it a just-one?"

The questions of the free passage of the Scheldt and of the Debt —in a word, of time whole points at issue—would equally remain were the citadel of Antwerp given up. He noticed the argument, that the present Ministers were treading in the steps of the Duke of Wel- lington— That was no excuse at all; for he considered that Earl Grey had been put into office to correct the errors of the Duke of Wellington, and not to follow them. ( Cheers and laughter.) But what had the Duke of Wellington said on this subject? Did lie ever speak of coercion or forcible interference ? In the debate which took place on the address to his Majesty, in answer to his speech on the opening of Parliament on the 2d of November 1830, immediately after the Belgian revolution, the Duke of Wellington said—" He could assure the House, that there was no intention whatever, on the part of his Majesty's Ministers— that there was not the slightest on the part of any Power whatever, to inter- fere by means of arms with the arrangements respecting the Netherlands. The desire of his Majesty, and of every other party concerned, was to settle, if pos- sible, every point by means of negotiation, and by negotiation alone." Was there any difference between the sentiments uttered by the Duke of Wellington and those expressed by Earl Grey on the same occasion ? The latter said—" I confess I cannot understand that we are hound to interfere in any arrange- ments of a local nature between Holland and the Low Countries." These were the words uttered by Earl Grey only a fortnight before be took office. If he were called upon to choose between the words of Earl Grey in 1830 and his ac- tions in 1832, he would certainly prefer the former. It might be said that this was only the private opinion of Earl Grey, and that in forming a Cabinet, he seas obliged to yield upon some points; but he also found that Lord Althorp held similar language an the House of Commons; and he was likewise able to quote the forcible language of Mr., now Lord Brougham, to the same effect.

He quoted Lord Brougham's observations on the King's speech to prove this. [The observations in question were directed against the • language of the Duke of Wellington, which described the inhabitants of Belgium as revolted subjects of the King of Holland, and thus at- tempted to prejudicate the whole case.]

The object of our hostile demonstration against Holland might be to sup- port a rickety throne in Belgium, and a tottering administration in France ; but it was not to support any British interest. "I trust," exclaimed Mr. Baring, "that the mail which starts for Holland this evening will carry with it the sympathy of the British nation, and enable Holland to see that the people of this country do not know upon what grounds the war is to be undertaken." Against whom, he continued, were we called upon to declare war? Holland was not aformidable power, neither was she hostile to civilization, like Turkey. Amongst the brightest epochs of our history, none were more brilliant than those el our close and intimate alliance with Holland ; and of all our annals, no page was perhaps so foul as that which described us as having, in the time Of Charles the Second, coalesced with France to reduce Holland to ignominious slavery. He felt convinced that our seamen would perform their duty. As an English- man, be wished his countrymen victory—he could wish for nothing else ; but be also trusted that even now, at the eleventh hour, by time interposition qf Providence, a change of measures would take place which would prevent us from engaging in a struggle from which no honour or glory could result.

[A gale of wind to wreck the combined squadrons, would of course be an interposition of Providence quite to the liking of this orator.] Mr. Baring was heard with great applause, interrupted with very partial sounds of another description. The resolution was seconded by Mr. Mitchell.

A Mr. Frieze panegyrized the speech of "the scion of the house of Baring." On Mr. Frieze sitting down, a Mr. Edmonds, who avowed himself a republican, rose to address the meeting, but they would not hear him.

Mr. Wilson stated the order rule of he wished to see observed— In his opinion, there was no necessity for those gentlemen who concurred in the resolutions to express theirassent ; and on the other hand, he hoped that all those who held a different opinihn on the subject would be good enough to ab- stain from making any remarks. They could not be coerced to sign resolutions to which they did nut agree.

Mr. Richard Taylor, the Common Councilman, also tried to obtain a hearing ; but the Chairman would not listen to him. Mr. Taylor asked for information.

Mr. Woolmore Attwood moved the third resolution. He said— Some apology was due from himself, an individual almost unknown, for coming forward on so important an occasion as the present. His best justifica- tion for presuming to appear before them was, that he was unconnected with any political party ; and therefore, in proposing the resolution which he should have the honour of submitting to them, it could not be said that he was ac- tuated by party feeling. The resolutions were such as were considered to be expressive of the wishes of the commercial interest of Loudon; and in moving them, he should act as their mouthpiece, and nothing more.

After Mr. Attwood sat down, Mr. Taylor was heard. He asked— Could it be true, too, that the British people were not interested in main- taining the freedom of navigation of the greatest rivers in Europe? Was it

right that if a package was sent to him front Frankfurt, the Dutch Government should have the liberty to rifle and place a high duty on it at Rotterdam ? Could it be true that the English nation was not interested in keeping the peace of Europe? Was it intended to deprive Holland of any of her rights? As the answer had been given in the affirmative, he, coming there for information, should like to know what were the particular rights of which it was intended to deprive her? Was it a claim of right supported by the common consent of na- tions, or a mistaken claim, put forth with undue obstinacy, or for the purpose of serving some other object than that which was avowed? He maintained that the English nation was interested in this affair. She was deeply interested, in com- mon with all other nations, in keeping open the navigation of those important rivers, and in preserving the peace of Europe. These were the points on which he did expect that the gentlemen who had proposed the resolutions would have offered sonic explanation to the meeting. He did expect that some attempt would have been made to support or enforce the resolutions by arguments and by facts. He was no admire: .ff the Belgian revolution ; he deplored it as much as any man. The union . the different provinces of the Netherlands since the year 1815, was an act w • h had caused him great delight ; and it would have been truly gratifying to bun that the union of the countries had been confirmed by the union of the hearts of the people of the Northern and Southern Provinces. He deplored, therefore, the event which had separated the two nations : yet, as it had taken place, and as the continuance of discord in that part of Europe which was nearest our own shores was likely to lead to general war, he did not see how the Government could act otherwise than they had done. The Government had displayed the greatest degree of calmness and patience in this matter. They had allowed two years to pass away in conferences with other Powers, in order to bring affairs to a peaceable conclusion. The step which they bad just taken appeared to him to be forced upon them; and nothing which he had heard in that room had convinced him that it was not perfectly necessary. The speech of Mr. Taylor was repeatedly interrupted by the disap- probation of the meeting. The other resolutions were proposed and seconded by Sir F. Om- mammy, a Mr. Heath, Mr. Thornton, and a Mr. Gower.

On the whole, the meeting, considered as an electioneering effort— the only light in which it can fairly be viewed—was very well got up.

- We subjoin a copy of the address to the King; which is, as usual, an echo oft he resolutions—

"TO TIIE XING'S MOST EXCELLENT 3WESTV.

" We, he undersigned Merchants, Bankers, Shipowners, and others of the port of London, humbly approach your Majesty with unabated feelings of loyalty andrenewed assurance ufattachment to your Royal pec,on. ° We bare Seca With deep concern at:A :;lacil the appointment of a squadron of Britidt men.or-war avowedly int endi d to cm:T:1.We rri`h rt French forge against Holland, mid the issuing of an Order in coandi to detain in Fort and at sea all ships belonging toxubjects of his Majesty the Klieg or the Netherlands.

" The hostilities threatened do not alvae to have been provoked by any injury in- flicted co British interests, nor by any insult offered to Briti6h honour; nail we depre- cate. the conhaehi..ment of a war, the tormiaation of which no human sagacity Call fore:,,, IA for which, in the absence of all Parliamentary information, we are unable to asmdtain any sullicieut motive.

" We c elect your Majesty to withhold your consent to any exercise of coercive iv ti,te nee •mill tin; real wishes an.1 feeliajs of the nation be unequivocally declared,''